Irish: from St. Patrick to Bloomsday

(Photo: Adi Bulboacă)

How was St Patrick’s day celebrated this year? I can tell you that we Romanians had lots of fun, as we tremendously enjoy St Patrick’s festivities.

It’s over now, but it was indeed great fun, absolutely fantastic and we shared it with the people of Bucharest. It’s the first time we did it so openly public: we had, as you know, a St Patrick’s Day parade in Romania and I think it was the biggest St Patrick’s Day in continental Europe. The big ones are in Ireland, US, Australia.

We feel proud of that. How come it happened here?

Why not? It’s true we have a very small Irish community here – in all of Romania there aren’t more than 70-80 Irish, but with a little help from our friends and some networking, we managed to get a huge amount of help and to make it happen. It was extraordinary; the police tell us that the full crowd of spectators was just under 6000 people.

And, as I remarked in one of my public statements, Ireland was never more present in Romania. As you could see, the parade comprised a number of floaters on which we had Irish musical groups, Romanian musical groups, Romanian and Irish dancers. It was quite a show. The parade was lead by a group of Romanian pipers. We also had a group of children from Săpânţa in their traditional costume; they were lovely with their singing and dancing.

We had contemporary Irish music (Vyvienne Long in the Anglican Church) and traditional Irish music.

And, of course, the Irish dancers. I mean Romanian dancers performing on Irish rhythms – a school from Iasi, two from Bucharest.

The interesting thing about the Irish culture here is that we don’t even have to promote it, it happens by itself: Romanians somehow discovered Irish music and dance and responded spontaneously to them.

Probably because we Romanians are more sentimental than sensible people…

You have soul. The Irish character and the Romanian one, though they are not quite the same, are people that get along very well with each other. You have quite a big community in Ireland – estimates go up as far as 40.000, which is significant for a small country like ours. They seem to be getting on very well and the Romanian community seems to be very happy in Ireland.

Regarding your experience with Tehran, Berlin or Bucharest now, how would you describe your staying in those cities/countries from a political, diplomatic, cultural or social point of view?

These are very different universes. It’s very hard to even begin to compare. Tehran was an extraordinary and very fulfilling experience, the people, the culture, the atmosphere, the landscape… most people live very normal lives and develop their own lifestyle with not too much interference. It’s an extraordinarily normal place. We traveled around the country and we had the place to ourselves, hardly any tourists sometimes. It was a privilege. The Iranians are very curious, friendly people. They spontaneously come up to you and want to tell you how welcome you are in their country. We also visited one of the most significant monuments of the humanity – Persepolis, and we were practically the only people there. It’s like going to St. Peter’s Square and find out you’re the only one there. We have great memories of Tehran. But one has to respect the Islamic nature of the country.

Romania is of course a totally different universe and offers different opportunities – for obvious reasons it’s easier to make contacts, to get around (you don’t have to be as careful as in Tehran). I’ve made some effort to learn the language, as I quite enjoy going to theatre.

Where you spend your free time in Bucharest?

I go to the theatre quite a bit; we have a great relationship with the director of the TNB Ion Caramitru. I also often go to Teatrul de Comedie or Bulandra. The standard in theater is amazing – Romania has some great people in stagecraft. One in particular struck me recently – Vizita bătrânei doamne – where the city moves; I have never seen anything like it: the sheer perfection of interaction between actors and the scenery and everything.

Last June, I went to the Sibiu Theatre Festival, where I saw Purcărete’s Faust, an overwhelming, fantastic production. I also saw Călătoriile lui Gulliver. There was an Irish composer who created the music for this production. The writer also, as you know, is Irish.

All that brings me to another initiative of our embassy: every year we give an award to a Romanian playwright and, apart from the award itself, we have the play translated in English and organize a special reading of the play at our National Theater in Dublin. We’ve done this for four years already as an important part of the Irish Embassy cultural agenda. We collaborate in this with some important names of the Romanian theater – a distinguished panel of judges which selects the play. Last year it was awarded to Vera Ion. Through all this we developed a warm and live contact with Romanian culture today.

Of course, I also frequent Ateneul Român and the Opera here, in Bucharest, which has a very high standard and is very accessible. We participated in the Celibidache Festival too.

Have you got to visit any other places in Romania? And what would you like to see?

We’ve been around Transylvania a few times, Timişoara is a wonderful place. The Saxon villages are absolutely fantastic: Viscri, for example. Which brings me to the idea of the terrible loss of the Saxons for you, but everyone knows that. And Braşov. We also spent a week in Maramureș last summer and that is really the best kept secret of Romania. We stayed in the village of Breb. This is how we got to know this family of traditional musicians. We plan a trip to Bucovina, which we haven’t visited yet. Maybe in May, when the countryside is at its best.

The highlights of our lives were determined probably by the language background; I studied Latin and French. My French language experience was Brussels. I speak German, Portuguese – which is my gateway to Romanian to a certain extent. But the tragedy is to forget a language, as it happens with Farsi, which has its challenges as a language. As does Romanian, believe it or not: to use the genitive naturally, without having to think first, that is an achievement, trust me.

If you were to describe Ireland in a few words, how it would look like? And what about Romania?

Ireland is not a museum, it’s a living place and what you get in Ireland are the people and the landscape. The successful visitor will link the two.

For Romania, I would choose the people, the landscape, the culture, the daily life. The element that strikes is the warmth of the Romanians, which are extremely friendly, open, and curious. Much more so outside Bucharest. It’s essential to get out of Bucharest and see the huge country out there.

Ireland is known to us by its beer, pubs, whiskey and also by its many celebrities from Peter O’Toole to U2. Which are your Irish cultural favorites?

Speaking as an Irishman, I have to tell you that there are a lot of clichés and that we don’t live in clichés. What’s important? Traditional Irish music and the Irish creativity element in contemporary Irish music. And literature, as we have contributed to the English language literature to a huge extent, especially if you look at the first half of the twentieth century: W.B.Yeats, James Joyce, whom we celebrate on Bloomsday, on the 16th of June.

We had a premiere last year with Ion Caramitru, a quite unique event in Bucharest, and we’re going to do it again this year: open air readings with Romanian actors and, hopefully, more of an Irish presence here and songs which are associated with the works of James Joyce. The 16th is a Sunday and realistically we’ll do Bloomsday on Saturday, the 15th. We haven’t decided on the location yet, but we will try to make a big event, to create a happening, well reflected in the media.

Have you been in pubs Bucharest? Are they Irish enough?

Yes, I did. I don’t necessarily have a criticism to make, though some are livelier and more authentically Irish than others. In fact, I believe it’s a question of group dynamics and that the atmosphere and layout of an Irish pub encourage conversation, like an open forum. Basically, everybody can talk to everybody. I’m talking of the best type of Irish pubs, as they are different, of course. In recent years, I noticed there is too much music too loud and that undermines the basic quality of interaction in an Irish pub. That also happens in the pubs, cafes or restaurants in Romania, where the volume of music is too loud and the TV sets are all over the place: it spoils a good meal and a good talk. And usually the quality of the music is dreadful; it’s like compulsory ketchup on your food. Bucharest is a high decibel city.

What about other parts of Bucharest?

Bucharest wears its history and it has been a troublesome one, but there are some absolutely magical corners which are quite peaceful and where the traditional architecture is still there. Bucharest is a city that reveals itself slowly.

If for a day, you were of citizen of Bucharest, what would you like to change here?

It’s not an easy answer: less pessimism and more optimism.